Sex Differences in Functional Difficulty and Disability-Free Life Expectancy among Older Persons in Indonesia and the Philippines

Jeofrey B. Abalos , National University of Singapore

This research aims to compare sex differences in functional difficulty and disability-free life expectancy of older persons in Indonesia and the Philippines. It also examines patterns in functional difficulty by demographic and socio-economic characteristics. Sullivan’s method is used to calculate disability-free life expectancy. This method requires age and sex-specific data on health status and life expectancy at ages 60 and over. Data on functional difficulty are drawn from 2010 Indonesian and Philippine Census of Population and Housing (CPH), while data on life expectancy are derived from the WHO 2010 life tables. Preliminary results show that the prevalence of functional difficulty is higher in Indonesia than in the Philippines. In addition, older women in both countries live longer than older men, but men spend a higher proportion of their remaining life in a healthy state. Sex differences in disability-free expectancy are much higher in Indonesia than in the Philippines.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session P2. Poster Session Ageing, Health and Mortality